The Only Exception
by Courtney-Helena Greene
Summary: Chelsea saw her mother split from her abusive father, and she watched it tear them apart. Then she's at Sunny Island, and there she finds what she fears most- Love. A fluffy one-shot. Song-fic of The Only Exception by Paramore. Rated T for implied things.


_When I was younger I saw my daddy cry,_

_And curse at the wind._

Chelsea stood in the corner of the room, away from where her father sat at the door weeping. She had just watched them fight, and her mother had left. _But mommy always comes back._ Chelsea thought. _Will it change because daddy hit her? I hit Marky sometimes but he never leaves forever…_ Speaking of Mark, her big brother was coming over to usher her out of the room.

_He broke his own heart and I watched_

_As he tried to reassemble it._

Over the next few years, Chelsea's father dated various women, but he was never satisfied. So he immersed himself in his writing, hardly ever batting an eyelash at his two children anymore. Mark got fed up with doing all of the cooking, cleaning, and raising Chelsea instead of their father. So the siblings packed their clothes and set off for their mother's house.

_And my momma swore that she would_

_Never let herself forget._

Chelsea's mother was good to her. Mark and Chelsea grew up well, and their father never came to look for them. They always had cooked meals, cleaned, and raised the children. But she could see in her mother's eyes she had never really gotten over their father. But her mother explained that when someone physically hurts you, you can't stay with them, no matter how much you love them. So Chelsea's mother never dated or remarried.

_And that was the day_

_That I promised,_

_I'd never sing of love_

_If it does not exist._

Her mother took it hard when Chelsea's father died. Mark was away at college when Chelsea's mother became sick, so the teenager had to care for herself. Then one day her mother passed away. Chelsea couldn't get it out of her head that her parents had never had the happy ending. _Love doesn't exist…_ Chelsea thought to herself, and she swore by that rule.

_But Darlin'_

_You are the only exception,_

_You are the only exception,_

_You are the only exception,_

_You are the only exception._

Chelsea moved away from all the heartbreak in her hometown, and she decided to move to one of the Sunshine Islands. Her boat crashed, and she ended up stranded on Sunny Island with another family. She took over the ranch and slowly but surely, people began to come to Sunny Island. But the person who most caught her eye was an anti-social cowboy named Vaughn, and she saw that he was sad just like her. They became best friends and, eventually, they fell in love.

_Maybe I know somewhere deep in my soul_

_That love never lasts._

_And we've got to find other ways_

_To make it alone_

_Or keep a straight face._

Vaughn was just as opposed to love as she was, but that only added to the attraction between the two. Chelsea was horrified that they would break up one day, the same way as her mother and father did. They exchanged their stories about what happened to them, and Chelsea sees that his father was abusive, too- but to much more of an extent. His father murdered his mother, and Chelsea hugged him and cried. They were the only people who could understand each other. Chelsea knew that he was going to leave her some day, it was inevitable, and she knew she would have to stand on her own. But Chelsea just couldn't imagine life without him.

_And I've always lived like this,_

_Keeping a comfortable distance._

_And up until now I've sworn to myself_

_That I'm content with loneliness,_

_Because none of it was ever worth the risk._

Chelsea stared at Vaughn. She remembered how hard she had tried to shy from love, and one boy ruined it all. She didn't mind being alone. Even when Mark was with her she had felt alone, off in a whole other world. She ran as fast as she could from boys because she didn't want to risk getting her heart broken. She just had her female friends, and boys never really mattered to her.

_You are the only exception,_

_You are the only exception,_

_You are the only exception,_

_You are the only exception._

Things had gotten pretty heated between the couple, and this night something… important happened. Chelsea and Vaughn 'disappeared' for the night. She loved the feeling of Vaughn curled around her, feeling his warm chest against her back. She loved how she could just melt into him, and she loved the feeling of his arm around her waist. She drifted off to sleep, blissfully happy just to be in Vaughn's arms.

_I've got a tight grip on reality but I can't,_

_Let go of what's in front of me here._

_I know you're leaving in the morning_

_When you wake up._

_Leave me with some kind of proof_

_It's not a dream._

Vaughn left for two months the day after, due to work. That was the reason they did what they did that night, and now Chelsea found out something. Proof that Vaughn was real, something to keep her going in the months he was away. Chelsea was pregnant. The two months passed and Vaughn returned.

_You are the only exception,_

_You are the only exception,_

_You are the only exception,_

_You are the only exception._

Chelsea was horrified that he would leave her when he found out, but he didn't. Instead he pulled some strings and now he only left the island twice a week instead of only visiting twice a week. None of the villagers shunned her for her actions, as a matter of fact they embraced her, even with her faults. Vaughn took care of her, and Mark moved into the hotel so he could take care of her farm.

_You are the only exception,_

_You are the only exception,_

_You are the only exception,_

_You are the only exception._

A few months later Vaughn and Chelsea welcomed a baby girl into the world. Her name was Jillian, and she had straight brown hair like her mother, and violet eyes like her father. Mark was so delighted with his niece that he officially moved into Sunny Island, and he married Sabrina Regison, a rich man's daughter. Chelsea was thrilled, love had a happy ending after all. She felt almost complete, just one thing was missing.

_And I'm on my way to believing._

When Jillian turned 3, Vaughn proposed to Chelsea. She accepted, and they had a gorgeous ceremony. Mark was Vaughn's best man. Julia, Vaughn's cousin and Chelsea's best friend, and Sabrina were Chelsea's maids-of-honor. Jillian was the flower girl, and when Vaughn kissed Chelsea under the arch, nothing felt more right. Chelsea had achieved the peak of her happy ending.

_I'm on my way to believing._

Chelsea and Vaughn grew old together, and Jill married a man named Skye and moved to Forget-Me-Not Valley. They lived a wonderful life with very few fights, and right before Chelsea died she looked into her husband's eyes.

"I believe."

XXXXXXXX

A/N: Awww, I don't like writing a character's death, I like to think they live forever. I don't really entertain the thought of Jill as Vaughn and Chelsea's daughter, but it fit. I prefer to think of Chelsea and Jill as sisters. This was a cute little one-shot songfic and my introduction to the Harvest Moon section. Thanks for reading, read & review, please!


End file.
